03/23/2011

Instructional Series - Federal Census

Federal Census and their role in family history research

There are two varieties of census available for New Jersey, the federal census which is conducted every 10 years, and a state census also every 10 years, but enumeration for the state census is 5 years after the federal. Today’s entry will focus on the federal Census. Every ten years the federal government’s goal is to count every citizen of the United states as of a particular day. It would be difficult if not impossible to conduct the count in an entire day so the census workers are careful to ask for the data as of the “census date”.

The first year the federal census was conducted was 1790, and the most recent available to the public is currently 1930. The census data on individuals are not available to the public until 72 years have passed. The 1940 census will be available in April 2012. There are records missing on some years, and the 1890 census was almost completely destroyed by fire.

While these records are really a very important part of a family historian’s tool box, they aren’t considered primary sources. Just because a William Smith living in Camden New Jersey seems to have the same birthdate as your great great grandfather doesn’t mean it ‘s the same William Smith. Also if your great grandmother indicated she was a naturalized citizen, it also doesn’t mean she ever went through the process.

Since we must substantiate all we learn from the census why is it useful? Depending on the year we can find names of children, other family members, find birth dates, marriage dates, narrow down death dates by a process of elimination. I’ll give an example of my ancestor Emeline King. I found her in the census living in a pauper house in 1860 in Norwich Connecticut with two of her children. I had initially been looking for Joseph King, her son and found him with Emeline. I located her marriage record to John King a few years earlier, at that point she was Emeline Cranston, which I assumed was her maiden name. I found Emeline Cranston living with her first husband in an earlier census and later found her marriage record to her first husband where her maiden name is listed as Emeline Church of a different town. If I hadn’t bothered with the census I would have never found Emeline. I also feel that the census gives quite a bit of insight into our ancestors lives, where they lived, where they worked, children that did not survive to adulthood. Thanks goodness for the freedom of information act!

Accessing Census Records

I will start with the easy way (which wasn’t available when I started!). Find an online collection of scanned images. Most are indexed so it’s fairly easy to do a search and pop up comes the image. For the most part this isn’t a free service, some free partial indexing exist, but for now it’s mostly available through a subscription. I like Ancestry.com and use it quite a bit. The census collection is a bit pricey, so proceed with caution. Also if you do a search the indexing is not infallible, handwriting was different F’s and T’s are easy to confuse. If all else fails don’t forget the option to manually view the town you are interested in.

If you are using online records you can skip this section

The old fashioned wayIf you don’t wish to incur the cost the more labor intensive way is fine as well. The census record are available on microfilms, and in some years there is an index (soundex). Now it’s down to what came first the chicken or the egg. You need to locate the census tapes you plan to use and you need to learn how to use them.

Where to find them? The easiest is to locate a library that houses the census that you need. In New Jersey Rutgers University, Alexander Library has the New Jersey microfilms for view in their basement floor. The Latter Day Saints have them available but you will need to order the films. In the past tapes could be rented from the National Archives, but that has been discontinued. The national archives are also a good place to view census, of course there is a location in Washington DC but there are other NARA archive locations as well. Locations here.

Once you have found out where the census is located it helps to understand what is indexed and what is not. In some cases published indexes are available for region/years but for some years the microfilms are indexed with a system called soundex

Soundex

Soundex is a system used for indexing the years 1880-1920, and part of 1930. The amount indexed varies by year/state. Basically you need to calculate the soundex code for the Surname you are researching and go to the corresponding microfim tape for that soundex. This will indicate where in the census films your records are located.

You should understand the basics of the soundex code and I could certainly go through it here, but this information is readily available on the internet and books so instead I will link to some useful sites:

Some years soundex only exist for certain states, others for families with children only. The last link covers the exceptions. Quite frequently published indexes in the form of books or CD’s are available for years not covered by soundex

Census Records

Regardless of whether you use a subscription based service, or microfilms it is good practice to transcribe the record to a form as well as make a copy of the image. Printed images tend to be not as clear as what you see on film or your screen, and if you decide to cancel your subscription to your online repository so goes your access to those records. You can make your own “form” or I prefer to just download some that exist on the internet already:

It’s important that you pick up all the data that you can - the state/city/county/ enumeration district/Sheet/line as well as all the data about your family. I indicate on the form where I pulled the data from (library, ancestry.com) and the date. This will come in handy later when you are trying to cite your sources.

What is available when?

Not every census collects the same data. Earlier census generally have the head of the household with just counts of people living at the residence. Some of the later years all people living at the residence are listed , occupations etc.

1790 - The first Census but only available for Connecticut, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Vermont, and Virginia. The other states were lost or destroyed. Only the head of the household was listed, and free only free persons were counted.

1800-1840 not all living were listed by name, sometimes it was just counts by category. More information was added as time went by, 1820 males between 16-18 were added by name, in 1830 the age categories for counts were refined a bit. In 1840 revolutionary pension soldiers field was added, this can give an indication that military records may exist in the National archives for the individual.

1850- All occupants are named! Also other valuable information is starting to be collected - birthplace, age, sex, occupation, and race.

1860 - 1870 - The same information as 1850 with some additional useful data.

1880 - A new field asking for the relationship to the head of household as well as birthplace of parents.

1890 - Most were destroyed

1900+ More and more data was gathered. Years married, birth dates, number of children, and number of surviving children to name a few.

Hints and Tips

My method I gathered quite a few census via microfilms and didn’t have the time for frequent trips to the library I would gather all of the census I could find in a specific area. Even if I didn’t know if they were related I just transcribed and sorted it out later. Sometimes it helps to sidetrack to an indirect ancestor to gather data (example a great grandfather might be living with a one of his children). Later you may also want to provide another researcher with copies and save them time :)

What if they aren’t in the Index?

The indexes aren’t perfect. Handwriting changes over time, people indexing get tired. One family name I research Fennimore is mangled all the time. You have a few options. If the town is small it’s fairly easy to go through an entire census line by line. It starts getting a little more difficult for each subsequent decade as populations increase. If you are going through a large city it can be a bit more challenging.

Starting with 1880 enumeration districts were added to each census. A city could have quite a few, so if you have an idea of what street they resided you could narrow your search. Some cities also have directories, so if you don’t have the address check the directory and then try to locate a map of the different enumeration districts. There are some listings for some years available on microfilm or book format. I would however check with local historical societies and libraries. Many will have a map of their city and what enumeration districts existed for a particular census. It’s possible to then go to the microfilmed or internet based collection for that specific ed and start the search line by line.

It is also possible that your family was just not counted. It happens, the records aren’t perfect.

Data Quality

Two days ago a census worker showed up at our door asking about our neighbor. She was widowed last year and has moved, but because of the market has not sold it yet. She hasn’t lived here since last fall. Well my daughter answered the door and was starting to answer questions on their behalf. She eventually recalled they hadn’t lived in the house on the date of the count. It’s easy to make mistakes, sometimes neighbors took a stab at answers, other times their could be language barriers. Sometimes the truth could have been difficult to discuss. One ancestor was kicked in the head by a horse and suffered brain damage. I was searching for his death certificate prior to 1920 because his wife was listed as widowed on the census. Much to my surprise he is listed on the 1930 census in a long-term hospital, no wonder I couldn’t find his death certificate!

The census can help you narrow down birth dates, marriage dates and even take you back a generation. However the data is only as good as that which was given and recorded on that given day. For this reason it is really considered a secondary data. Just keep in mind that what you find you will need to substantiate